Ad Standards Says SA Road Safety Ad Does Not Vilify Jesus

Good news for the folks behind the latest South Australian Motor Accident Commission ad, after a flurry of complaints failed to convince the Ad Standards Board to take it off the air.

The ad features a shirtless man with a beard and long hair, sporting a tutu, warning drivers to slow down. This man goes by the name of the ‘Hairy Fairy’, and materialises in the backseat of cars to help drivers make better decisions when they get into ‘hairy’ situations on the road.

But complaints have claimed the ad does everything from vilify Jesus to offend transgender people. Check out a few versions of the campaign here:

A sample of complaints included:

The tutu fairy as depicted in the ad is very like the religious portrayal of Jesus as the Good Shepherd in the Christian belief. I find it very disrespectful to use this image and add the tutu. There must be other images they could use.

I’m offended as for years I have been subject to ridicule for being a hairy guy and this ad is playing on the general public’s dislike of hairy guys. I feel the whole campaign utilises people’s dislike of hairy guys to reinforce a speeding message which has nothing to do with speeding.

The Hairy Fairy appears to be a cisgender man wearing a pink tutu – or may perhaps be a trans person who ‘reads’ as male – and seems to attempt to bring a funny element to advertising the importance of not speeding on the road. It attempts to make fun of the idea of a ‘man in a skirt’ and uses this as the punchline, suggesting there is ‘nothing normal’ about speeding just like there is ‘nothing normal’ about the apparent ‘man in a skirt’.

The Hairy Fairy is a presumably cisgender man wearing a pink tutu and is, from my understanding, intended to bring comic relief to the serious community message of speeding reduction. I object to the advertising on the basis of it relying on the trope of a man wearing a skirt as a point of absurdity. It encourages the audience to laugh at this image and in turn belittles and encourages discrimination against gender diverse people, particularly Tran’s women and Trans feminine people.

But Ad Standards wasn’t having a bar of it, dismissing all complaints against the ad.

The Ad Standards Board ruled, “The Board noted the Hairy Fairy was the hero of the advertisement who was spreading a very important message about road safety.

“The Board considered that the Hairy Fairy was not treated unfavourably in the advertisement and that he was not depicted in a manner that would ridicule or humiliate any particular group of people.”

The advertisers also responded, adding, “The character of a male fairy is not unique to this campaign. We have used the image to present the “Hairy Fairy”, a likeable fictional character designed to bring attention to the important issue of low-level speeding.

“The Hairy Fairy appears in drivers’ cars whenever things become potentially unsafe, or hairy, on the road. He is a positive character who provides encouragement to people to drive within the speed limits, positive reinforcement when they do so and challenges the notion that speeding is normal.

“The use of a pink tutu to bring levity to an otherwise serious issue has been used to good effect with The Tutu Project, a movement for raising awareness of breast cancer. Men are encouraged to don a tutu for a cause, bringing a little light-heartedness to an otherwise serious social issue.

Latest News

Trinity Consulting’s head of strategy, Anthony James (main photo), is the most followed Australian media personality on LinkedIn according to a new study by the business social media platform. Each year LinkedIn unveils its Power Profiles, the most-viewed professionals on LinkedIn across five categories in Australia. The categories include founders and CEOs; small to medium businesses (SMB); […]

As technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, the pressure is firmly on marketers to ensure their digital skills are up to scratch. But with all the hype currently surrounding digital, do marketing bosses value those in their team with specialist skills more than the generalists? According to a recent survey of Australian and […]

It’s arguably the planet’s most anticipated Christmas ad and UK retailer John Lewis didn’t disappoint when it delivered its big budget Elton John number to the world on Friday. Check out B&T’s reporting here. Such was the power of the spot, even our very own Dr Mark Ritson wrote a doting homage to the work […]

Today is International Children’s Day and to draw attention to the often appalling treatment of many of the world’s kids, charity group Right To Play has unveiled two stunning and provocative spots. The work of BBDO Toronto, the first is a 90-second TVC highlighting the mistreatment, forced marriage and child labour suffered by many children around the world. While a second deals […]

How will the future of work look for creative agencies? How can technology be applied to the creative process – can it be automated? These are the key questions to be grappled with by University of Sydney academic experts and students in a new partnership with international advertising agency J. Walter Thompson China, in Shanghai. […]

OMD Australia has been appointed Suncorp’s Master Media Agency to manage the media planning and buying for the group’s network of brands including Suncorp, AAMI, GIO and Apia. The appointment of OMD comes after Suncorp confirmed it was reviewing its media account in October, putting incumbent Starcom on notice. It also coincides with the company’s move to a network […]

The ABC has put recent management turmoil behind it to unveil its 2019 schedule. Highlights include the return of fan favourites Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery and Anh’s Brush with Fame. David Anderson, ABC acting managing director, said: “The ABC tells the story of Australia and in 2019 we have many great […]

In this guest post, CEO of Delacon, Michael Center (pictured below), says speech analytics has a myriad of useful applications for any business and here he outlines seven applications to improve your marketing… Speech analytics data collected from calls made by potential new customers allows businesses to drive greater personalisation in the online environment and create […]

Stockland has unveiled its 2018 Christmas Campaign, launching across its national social and owned media channels. Titled ‘Give a Little Christmas’ the ad is by creative agency CX Lavender and celebrates the spontaneous, unplanned and unexpected moments that make Christmas special and can bring a community closer. Ben Allen, general manager marketing at Stockland, said: “At Stockland, we believe […]

The December issue of Harper’s BAZAAR, on sale today, celebrates a unique collaboration between the luxury lifestyle title and Australia’s iconic Taronga Zoo. Fronted by Australian supermodel and mother of two, Gemma Ward, the December issue is devoted to raising awareness to the work Taronga Zoo, and the newly established Taronga Institute of Science and […]

In this guest post, Collaboro CEO Warwick Boulter (pictured below), says too many marketers aren’t taking care of their very expensive media assets and offers his tips to ensure you safeguard yours… A business’ digital media assets form a significant part of its overall asset portfolio. Maximising the use of these assets and protecting them against loss is […]

LogIn

Signing in with LinkedIn

Please wait while we sign you in with LinkedIn.

This may take some time.

Please be patient and do not refresh the page.

(A new window from LinkedIn should open for you to authorize the B&T login. If you don't see this please check behind this window, and if it is still not there check your browser settings and turn off the pop-up blocker.)